Saint Joseph Catholic Church

Today is the Memorial of Saints Cyril and Methodius. St. Cyril (827-869) was a priest and a philosopher and accompanied his brother St. Methodius (826-885) to Moravia to preach the Gospel. They both perfected a Slavonic alphabet which is now known as the Cyrillic alphabet and translated the liturgy into this language. They were summoned to Rome, where Cyril died on this date in 869, and Methodius was consecrated bishop and sent to Pannonia. Methodius died on April 6, 885, in Velehrad, Czech Republic, after working tirelessly on spreading the Gospel.

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The Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference reported a 16% rise in couples attending marriage-preparation programs, compared to the previous year.

In 2025, the Accord marriage-preparation program, “in the Republic of Ireland, outside of the Dublin area, provided 239 programs for 3,612 couples, and increase of 16%, or 505 couples, over 2024,” according to the bishops’ conference.

The Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba announced the postponement of the bishops’ long-planned ad limina visit to Rome, scheduled for February 16-20.

The bishops cited the “worsening of the socio-economic situation of the country, which has generated instability and uncertainty in large sectors of the population.” The bishops also “reiterated their communion with the Pope and their spiritual closeness to all the people of God, renewing their commitment to prayer and service.”

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) invited parishes and individuals to contribute to a collective 250 hours of Eucharistic adoration and 250 works of mercy for the nation’s 250th anniversary.

“Parishes can participate in 250 hours of adoration together by offering a Holy Hour on a weekly or monthly basis leading up to the July 4 anniversary,” the bishops’ conference explained. “While 250 hours seems like a lot, each person present constitutes an hour prayed.”

The presidents of the episcopal conferences of France, Germany, Italy, and Poland called upon Europe to “rediscover its soul in order to be able to offer the whole world its indispensable contribution to the ‘common good.’’”

“The founding fathers of [post-World War II] Europe, Robert Schuman, Konrad Adenauer and Alcide De Gasperi, inspired by their Christian faith, were not naïve dreamers, but the architects of a magnificent, albeit fragile, building,” the prelates said. “Europe cannot be reduced to an economic and financial market, on pain of betraying the initial vision of its founding fathers.”

The prelates added:

The world needs Europe. This is the urgency that Christians must make their own in order to be able to commit themselves decisively, wherever they are, to its future with the same lively awareness as the founding fathers ... In the name of their faith, Christians are called to share with all the inhabitants of the European continent their hope for universal brotherhood.

In a February 13 chirograph, Pope Leo XIV abolished the Pontifical Committee for World Children’s Day, established by Pope Francis in November 2024, with Father Enzo Fortunato, OFM Conv, as chairman.

Pope Leo transferred the committee’s functions to the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life.

Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, the first diocese established in the United States (1789), has issued a pastoral letter, “In Charity & Truth: Toward a Renewed Political Culture,” for the nation’s 250th anniversary.

The 29-page letter has 22 sections, including “Charity, Unity, and Patriotism – The Witness of Blessed Michael McGivney” and “The Spiritual Crisis Beneath the Political Crisis.”

“May the next 250 years of our nation be marked by greater justice, deeper solidarity, renewed trust, and a profound respect for the dignity of every human person,” he concluded. “May the Church—in the Premier See of Baltimore and throughout the United States—be a leaven of unity and a witness of hope in a world thirsting for both. May God bless you and may God bless the United States of America.”

L’Osservatore Romano devoted prominent front-page coverage in its February 13 edition to the plight of the victims of environmental redevelopment projects in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital.

Father Ettore Marangi, who ministers in a Nairobi slum, spoke with the Vatican newspaper about the government’s destruction of makeshift shacks of at least 40,000 slum inhabitants.

Ilaria De Bonis reported:

136 euros: that’s how much a house in Nairobi’s illegal settlements is worth. Or rather, this is the compensation—when it exists, which is almost never—offered by the Nairobi government to citizens who lose their homes, demolished following recent environmental redevelopment projects.

Receiving a sum of money after losing one’s home is, however, a rare exception. More often than not, one ends up on the streets.